Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey

Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey, 569 U.S. 251 (2013), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that federal laws deregulating the transportation industry do not invalidate corresponding state provisions that regulate the seizure, storage, and sale of cars by towing companies.[1] Robert Pelkey sued Dan's City Used Cars under New Hampshire law for unlawfully selling his vehicle. A lower court raised doubts as to whether the New Hampshire statute was valid at all, as Dan's City argued it was pre-empted by federal deregulation law, specifically, the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, and the case eventually arrived before the Supreme Court.[2] Agreeing with Pelkey, the justices named several conditions necessary for federal law to override state transportation regulations and narrowed the range of state transport laws subject to pre-emption.[3]

Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 20, 2013 Decided May 13, 2013
Full case name	Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. DBA Dan's City Auto Body v. Pelkey
Docket no.	12-52
Citations	569 U.S. 251 (more) 133 S. Ct. 1769; 185 L. Ed. 2d 909
Argument	Oral argument
Holding
Pelkey's claims against the tow company's impoundment and auction of his car do not relate to the transportation of property, and are not preempted by federal law. New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Case opinion
Majority	Ginsburg, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1)